I bought one of these (a 159) back in January (mainly for the magne-traction) and have ridden it once, at Camelback in PA. It was a day of firm snow with some chop and a little ice here and there. No fresh powder to speak of.

What a ride. Very fast and very stable. I was passing tons of skiers and taking very steep runs (double-blacks) at high speed. Several times I hit little berms or icy patches and was sure I would be tossed on my a$$--but I wasn't. The board is fairly stiff but lively feeling.

I don't know if it was the MTX or something else that did the trick. Truth is, I couldn't detect any obvious difference in how the board felt with the MTX--but that doesn't mean it wasn't the thing holding me upright. Maybe twice I felt a bit of hookiness, but it wasn't a problem for me.

Anyway, I couldn't be more happy with this board.

Let me admit that the base graphic is hideous. It's this blue/white alternating chevron-stripe mess. But I really don't care. (And the topsheet is much more subtle.)

Some people may think that a board made by a "ski company" is uncool. Whatever. Don't buy one, then. Fact is, all the "ski companies" (Dynastar, Head, Salomon, Vo:lkl, et al.) also make snowboards; they just don't generally appeal to the jibber set. I had thought about a Lib Tech (T. Rice or Dark Series), but this board was about $150-$200 less than a comparable Lib. (I bought it for $320 at Evogear.)

I absolutely love this board. It is highly underrated in my opinion. I tested the 2011 Rossi One Magtek (has camber and rocker combination with magnatraction) and it was killing the runs. I loved it way more than the Rossi Angus which was supposed to be a badass board.

Even with the 2011 One, I agree about the graphics being hideous. This board needs a better graphics design.

I absolutely love this board. It is highly underrated in my opinion. I tested the 2011 Rossi One Magtek (has camber and rocker combination with magnatraction) and it was killing the runs. I loved it way more than the Rossi Angus which was supposed to be a badass board.

Leo, thanks for the reply and the feedback on the new model. So how did you find the camber on non-powder? I've read that it's mostly powder oriented.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo

Even with the 2011 One, I agree about the graphics being hideous. This board needs a better graphics design.

Yeah, those crazy Euros! They make great stuff, but God help their fashion sense. I'm surprised they haven't tried to sell us capri-length snowboard pants with built-in fanny packs.

Leo, thanks for the reply and the feedback on the new model. So how did you find the camber on non-powder? I've read that it's mostly powder oriented.

I live in Michigan. Powder is super rare here lol. Ice and groomers is all I usually ride. The One owned it. Magnatraction works on ice. Period. To be honest, I don't remember how the camber/rocker worked. I believe it was rocker under the bindings and rocker everywhere else. I just remember the pure fun I had just free-riding on this thing. If I didn't have an all-mountain board, I would definitely consider buying this one.

old thread, i know.
I have the 2012 156cm, my first board so I don't have a lot to compare to, absolutely loving it. After years on rentals Im sure anything would feel great, but so happy with this board, mostly free-riding. I might have gone too short for much powder riding, tends to sink in. Magne traction sounded like a marketing gimmick but I think it really does help a ton on ice or hard packed snow, so many times I thought "any second I'm going to faceplant" but it didn't happen (often)!

I dont mind the graphics on mine, but I havent seen the 2011. I dont care if someone calls my board ugly though.

I'm not sure what "more dead" means, and I've never used the angus so can't really help you there. As for stiffness, I like the longitudinal stiffness, it's very firm and gives nice control on most terrain. I think it's a little too torsionally stiff though from what I'm used to. On carves it took me a while to get used to how difficult it is to pick up the front edge, either toe or heel, because of how stiff it is to twist between my feet. I'm not sure how it ranks compared to others on a torsional stiffness scale, I haven't ridden a lot of boards, but it seems quite high.